Roku Inc, maker of the popular Roku line of home media players, has just refreshed their entire product lineup at once. The existing lineup of flagship Roku boxes (but not the Roku Streaming Stick) has been replaced by three new products (with upgraded models for each); the Roku Express, the Roku Premiere, and the Roku Ultra.

The Roku Express. It's so cute!

The Roku Express is similar in size to a Chromecast, and strangely will be sold alongside the existing Roku Streaming Stick. For $29.99 ($39.99 in Canada), it supports 1080p streaming with 802.11 b/g/n WiFi and has a single HDMI port for connectivity. Roku is also offering the Roku Express+ at $39.99 ($49.99 in Canada), which adds composite outputs for compatibility with older TVs, and is available exclusively from Walmart.

Roku's press release doesn't explicitly state if the Express supports 5GHz WiFi networks, but considering dual-band wireless is listed as a feature on the Premiere and not this model, I'm inclined to believe it does not.

The Roku Premiere.

Next up is the Roku Premiere, the mid-range model with a price tag of $79.99 ($89.99 in Canada). The Premiere includes support for 4K output and streaming, a "fast quad-core processor," 802.11ac MIMO dual-band wireless, and a "night-listening mode" that adjusts audio levels to be more consistent. The Roku Premiere+ at $99.99 ($109.99 in Canada) adds HDR support, an enhanced remote, a microSD card slot, and an Ethernet port.

The Roku Ultra.

Roku's new flagship box is the Roku Ultra, priced at $129.99 in the US and $139.99 in Canada. The Ultra packs in all of the features of the Premire+, and adds Dolby Digital/Digital Plus decoding for surround sound systems, an optical digital audio port for sound receivers/sound bars, and a USB port for local media playback. This is also the only Roku model with a point-anywhere remote control with voice search, the Express and Premiere have a typical IR remote.

I'll be honest, this product lineup is rather confusing. Some of the features only present in the Ultra should be in the Premiere, for example a USB port and a remote with voice search. Why is HDR support limited to the $99.99 Premiere+, when the rumored Chromecast Ultra at $69.99 will support it? The Plus models only serve to add confusion to the lineup, and to make matters worse, Roku will continue to offer the Roku Streaming Stick alongside the new models.

If you are still interested in purchasing one of these new devices, pre-orders begin today at Amazon, Roku.com, Walmart, Best Buy, and other retailers. You can expect a full release on October 9th. Keep in mind that the Roku Express Plus (a Roku Express with composite video output) will only be available from Walmart.

Press Release

LOS GATOS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Roku, Inc. today announced a new line up of streaming players with features, prices and performance for every kind of streamer. Setting a new milestone, Roku launched its tiniest streaming player yet– the new Roku Express offers a fast and complete experience with 1080p HD streaming for $29.99 MSRP. Roku Express and Roku Express+ are a great solution for consumers who want a low-cost way to start streaming or for those who wish to extend TV streaming throughout their home inexpensively.

For those who seek incredible performance through a quad-core processor and the capability to stream 4K Ultra HD up to 60 frames per second (fps), Roku Premiere and Roku Premiere+ offer an amazing value. The Roku Premiere+ also supports HDR for vibrant picture quality and includes a point anywhere remote with a headphone jack for private listening. Rounding out the line is the fully loaded Roku Ultra for an ideal streaming experience which also includes support for HDR, Dolby Digital Plus decode, voice search and lost remote finder. These five new streaming players complement the very popular Roku® Streaming Stick® introduced in April, and offer consumers the most complete streaming player lineup.

“Roku stands for streaming innovation and today we’re celebrating the biggest player launch in our company’s history, including the introduction of the Roku Express player which delivers a complete streaming experience for a shockingly low price of $29.99,” said Anthony Wood, Roku Founder and CEO. “Whether consumers simply want fast HD streaming via an inexpensive device or are looking for a top-of-the-line player with advanced features such as 4K and HDR, Roku is an easy choice.”

Most Comprehensive and Unbiased Search

Roku devices are powered by the Roku OS and feature a simple home screen with access to 3,500+ streaming channels, including 350,000 movies and TV episodes in the U.S. Roku devices feature the most comprehensive and unbiased search in the industry now across 100+ streaming channels. Search a movie, TV show, actor or director and the Roku OS will display where content is available and serve results in order of price; starting with what is free or lowest cost for the user. Roku has added unprecedented depth to its search capabilities with a wide variety of channels that cover comedy, news, concerts, sports and long-tail content.

Features like Hotel and Dorm Connect make it easy to access public Internet networks to stream when away from home. Consumers can use the simple included remote control or the free Roku mobile app for iOS® and Android™ mobile devices which acts as a remote, includes a keyboard and offers features like voice search, private listening, and more for this new line of Roku streaming players.

Convenient point anywhere remote control with voice search, headphone jack for private listening and gaming buttons

Lost remote finder feature finds remotes stuck in the couch with the touch of a button on the player

Availability

Roku Express, Roku Premiere, Roku Premiere+ and Roku Ultra streaming players will be available for pre-order beginning today from Roku.com, Walmart, Best Buy, Amazon and other retailers, and are expected to be in stores beginning on Oct. 9. Roku Express+ will be available exclusively at Walmart.

About Roku, Inc.

Roku pioneered streaming for the TV and aspires to power every TV in the world. As of June 2016 the Roku OS powered TV streaming for 10+ million monthly active accounts. Roku is known for streaming innovation and high customer engagement, offering content providers and video advertisers the best way to reach streaming audiences. Roku customers streamed 4 billion hours of video and music in the first six months of 2016 as compared to 5.5 billion hours in all of 2015. Roku streaming players and Roku TV models are available in 10 countries through direct retail sales and licensing arrangements with TV OEMs and service operators. The company was founded by Anthony Wood, inventor of the DVR. Roku is privately held and headquartered in Los Gatos, Calif. U.S.A.

Roku and Streaming Stick are registered trademarks and Roku TV and Roku Powered are trademarks of Roku, Inc. in the U.S. and in other countries.

Comments

Tyler Bules

Why did they downgrade the remotes to IR for the lower models? I own an original roku streaming stick which is in desperate need of replacement. Even it had a 'point anywhere' remote and was the base model for its time. IMO point anywhere remotes are a huge deal to me and id sacrifice a lot before giving that up.

Same here. I have Roku 3 and the best aspect is the remote not needing to be pointed at the box. Simply incredible.

Adam Truelove

Buy the newer version of the Stick. It's great.

blindexecutioner

I like them as well. I like my roku 3 because the actual device can use either which means I can set up a regular IR Harmony remote but the point anywhere remote works as well.

SuperMarkert

Choice. If you like a point-anywhere remote, get the newer streaming stick. If you want to be able to use your Harmony IR remote, get the new Express and mount it in viewing distance. Use of IR remotes is effectively impossible with the streaming sticks.

BuckNaked78

Is this still the same issue if you use the Smart Phone App for it?

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Also a fan of the IR remote for the Express, because Harmony Remote. Definitely getting one for my main TV now. I hate having 2 separate remotes for my bedroom and kitchen TV's when 1 would be more practical.

VanceMark

Our Roku 2 is showing its age. I was going to refresh... now I guess I will just get a Sony BluRay player if this is how this is going to go. I can't see any benefit of any of these models.

tech_e

FWIW, I have a Sony BlueRay and bought a Roku because of the frustration with Sony. Beyond the UI disadvantages (searching multiple providers, phone/app remote) and some other niche features, it just lagged a lot and required a lot of button presses to get where I wanted to go. Plus, the remote wasn't laid out as well and I had to search for some options. It is a year old, so maybe they have some better models or FW updates, but the Sony didn't compare to the Roku for usability.

Lord Argyris

Yep, just going to add my voice to the chorus. They took one of the only features I actually care about beyond what the Premiere version offers and attached it to the highest priced SKU. Typical MBA move--take the feature people actually want and which was previously offered lower down in the lineup and make it exclusive to the top tier product.

SIGTRAP

Which feature is that?

Lord Argyris

The point-anywhere remote. It's one of those things you don't know you need until you have to go back to using something that doesn't have it. Roku clearly knew this as after offering it on the original Roku 3 (which is what my family has), they included it on everything from their updated streaming stick to the Roku 2 through the Roku 4, before the latest refresh. Now, evidently, it's only offered on the top end model.

CommodoreFan64

I've got 1 Roku 2016 HDMI stick and 3 older Purple HDMI sticks(2 at home, and one at work), and 2 Roku 1 boxes(one back up the other in my home office), and I sometimes have trouble with the Wifi remotes working, and I have to use the Android app, but my older Roku 1 boxes with IR remotes have never failed to work(unless it's dead batteries), and I'm guessing that's one of the reasons took it out on these lower end models along with cost. Also it could just be a placebo effect but I don't think the batteries last as long in the Wifi remotes compared to the IR remotes.

Brandon Tiller

Anyone found the pre-order link on Amazon?

CommodoreFan64

look on Walmart's website instead as I know the express+ at least for now is exclusive to Walmart, not sure about any of the other models.

Bryan Pizzuti

Sounds like the Premier+ is the one to get.

Allen Yates

$130 to get Dolby Digital support? Yikes!

TechGuy22

shield doesn't support that right ?

Eideen

Android TV supports audio passthrough.

icethegreat

Roku is the 'gold standard' on streaming boxes. Simple, quick, and it just works. How could have they messed up such an easy product.... greed.

NashGuy

The $69 Android TV Mi Box, with UHD HDR, USB, Google Cast and Bluetooth voice remote stacks up well against the new Rokus for the money.

Reuben W

Based on specs alone, getting one of these is a no-brainer for me. Let's hope it isn't let down by ui or real world performance

About 4 months ago I purchased one of those Android TV Boxes. An MXQ Pro+ with all the right specs. You know, quad core processor, penta core video processor, 2GB Ram, 16GB Rom, HDMI, Bluetooth, dual band wifi - all the right stuff.

However MOST Android TV boxes have a significant problem. The biggest problem with Android TV Boxes is that very FEW ever get updated just like a budget Android phone. We are not talking about a $400 Nexus phone here. We are talking about a TV boxes selling for less than $100 unless of course you buy one of the high end models. Only the better models get what is known as Over-The-Air [OTA] updating. And even then there is no guarantee that your box will ever get an update to fix some early production run Android problem.

The second problem is with Android itself. If you buy a TV box with Android version 4.4.2 kitkat you can CURRENTLY run Kodi 16.1 which is a really slick media player. However, if your box never gets updated to AT LEAST Android 5.0 Kodi version 17 won't run. And even if your TV Box does get updated there could be software that won't run. In other words; and this is my opinion only, Android is not really the best software for TV Boxes. If you really want a media player for enjoying movies, viewing your photos and all that other stuff; there just isn't anything better than a Windows or Mac PC running media center software. It just works and get automatically updated.

But if you are still determined to buy an Android TV Box; then I would certainly perform some due diligence. Check out the company's website and user FORMS. If the manufacturer doesn't have a way for you to ask questions and interact with other users then I recommend you stay away from that manufacturer or you will end up with more electronic waste that will need to be recycled before too long. OR:

Just go buy a Roku, Apple or Amazon streaming device and call that good enough. They all just WORK. Heck my old first generation Roku box still plays Netflix movies in a family room. And while Roku is no longer updated that streaming box they did leave me with a streaming device that works :-) That is more than I can say for the Android TV box I just purchased :-( .

i've been keeping up to date buying almost everything to compare and figure out what the best media device is, from the Boxee, to the Amazon Fire stick, to Raspberry Pi's with Kodi, and honestly it shocks me how there still isn't really a perfect affordable device yet.

For $30 you can get a Raspberry Pi and put OSMC or Openelec on it and get a pretty fantastic streaming and local media media centre, so ll of these dedicated devices really have to do something special to price themselves at triple the cost and come out with new versions every year or so.

Mid-range Rokus are good for simplicity, they're extremely easy to use and have quite a lot of mainstream content. You can even use Plex if you want to set up a local media server on your PC, but the problem with Roku is the early LT and XS models were pretty much perfect. They're as responsive now as the newer versions are. THe only reason to go from an LT to an Roku 2 or 3 from last years range was becasue the apps were no longer being updated there. For example netflix didn't allow profile support, so users couldnt sign in. But the newer more expensive Roku 2 didn't have the RF remote and instead the cheaper IR remote. So going backwards in hardware to get updated functioning software.

Amazon TV is pretty decent in that it integrated with Netflix, Amazon Prime etc, like Roku, but has the benefit of amazon/android apps. But the UI is poorer (very amazon prime centric) functionality keeps getting stripped out from firmware updates, and lack of decent codec support means you cant even watch things like MKV.

Then in terms of other Android Tv devices you have a minefield of software support, and codec support issues, and the ease of use isn't to par of the Amazon Fire TV devices.

Chromecast is a strange beast, it is great for allowing people to share content from their devices to the tv, but for long term media consumption sucks, as the battery of your phone is jsut going to die unless you have it plugged in, the lack of remote means you are always going to have the phone in hand anyway, and multiple times after google app updates the functionality has broken for various devices (for a few months it refused to load on one phone at all despite working prior). It really doesn't compete with mdoern day media centre devices, especially as things liek amazon tv and roku have streaming/casting support anyway.

I don't understand why someone like Roku can't just make 2 devices, one that is basic in terms of processing (can handle streaming less than 4k without issue but doesnt sacrifice things like ethernet ports and remote control functionality) cheap, and one that is capable of the best and most beautiful visuals with a processor and gpu to handle just about anything, at a premium price. and keep it simple, I'm not sure why everyone wants to fragment the audio/visual market so much. It's one thing having lots of competitors, but another you have your own devices compete against each other.

Digitaldeath 187

I know your post is a couple months old. but I'm trying to get rid of cable what do you think is the best streaming service to pair with kodi? Me and my daughter Both iPhone users. Something with a good user interface so my daughter doesn't get aggravated with the whole thing and force me to go back to $$$$$ cable. Lol

I have Roku 2016 HDMI sticks on all 3 of the TV's in my house, and an older Purple HDMI stick on my TV at work, but in my home office I have an older Roku 1 puck connected with an HDMI to DVI adapter to my 3rd 24in PC monitor, and use the A/V audio jacks converted to 3.5mm with a headphone amp so I can watch it at my desk, but it's showing it's age, so I'm glad to see the express+ has the A/V option. yes I know with the 2016 HDMI stick you can do the audio from the Android app, but it can lag/drop out, and the sound quality is not always so great, so again for me nice to see the express+ model with composite audio output.

UberCrew

Which processor is in the Ultra? What is the speed? How much RAM does it have? How much onboard storage and what type? Does it have a USB 3.0 or 3.1 port or is it still 2.0? I see that the LAN port is still only Fast Ethernet 10/100 instead of Gigabit Ethernet, which is a bit disappointing. The specs of the Roku 4 were not all that impressive hoping maybe the Ultra has some hardware upgrades.

I have a Roku 3, FireTv (2nd gen) & Shield Android TV, just trying to figure out if the Roku Ultra is worth getting.